Earnest discourse on history marks The Hindu Lit for Life 2025 in Hyderabad

The past is always present. Each generation creates meaning for itself in the present by reference to history, whether in the recent parliamentary debate on the ‘mutilation’ of Vande Mataram, the everyday ‘WhatsAppification’ of history, or the emotional responses of communities on social media.

Author and historian Manu S. Pillai was in conversation with literary and cultural journalist Nandini Nair at The Hindu Lit for Life Dialogue 2025 at the Hyder Mahal house at ITC Kakatiya here. Additional seats were guaranteed for the session titled ‘History as Battlefield: The Past in India’s Present’.

Mr. Pillai believes that established writers should be responsible “in times like these” and not bow to pressure; it’s the only way to make room for first-time writers.

According to him, how much of the past is remembered plays an important role in how individuals, societies and political parties shape themselves. For him, as he recalls his father’s times, his grandmother’s stories, local customs at his home in Thiruvananthapuram, and archives that reveal comedies in history and the discovery of new interpretations, the emotional texture, not just references to dates, is crucial to fully understanding history.

When asked how history is weaponized today, he stated that no historian can claim to have found the absolute truth. “History means connecting 20 dots in a logical, intelligent and well-thought-out way. And not everyone interprets it the same way; it can be ideological, it can be from a male or female perspective,” he said.

Interested in examining the breakdown of power dynamics, Mr. Pillai also discussed how the British introduced English and how it was adopted in the country; The endurance of Maharani Sethu Lakshmi Bayi is depicted in his book Ivory Throne; and the story of Princess Sita Devi of Pithapuram, who converted to Islam to annul her Hindu marriage and married Pratap Singh Gaekwad of Baroda.

In response to the audience’s question about which political party “uses history most effectively and dangerously”, Mr. Pillai stated that this was no exception. “There were books about Nehru’s childhood, just as there is content now. But the question is to what extent and to what extent it is shameful. Nowadays there is a creative game being played with history, not accidentally but deliberately, to be malicious, vindictive, to confuse people and to some extent create distrust of expertise, to make people think historians have an agenda.”

In response to another question about whether people return to past beliefs, he concluded: “Human stupidity repeats itself constantly; the same mistakes and patterns are repeated from past to past.”